HANOI, March 19, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Vietnamese prosecutors called Tuesday for a leading property developer to face the death sentence as the "mastermind" of a $12.5-billion swindle -- the country's biggest ever fraud case.

Truong My Lan, chair of developer Van Thinh Phat, is on trial accused of illegally appropriating the money from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over the course of a decade, leaving more than 40,000 investors out of pocket.

The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that other defendants in the case have admitted their crimes, but Lan has remained "stubborn" and blamed staff working under her.

"According to the prosecutor's office, Lan played the role of mastermind and leader but did not admit her crime, was stubborn, blamed subordinates, and did not repent," the newspaper reported.

Prosecutors have asked the jury to hand her a death sentence for embezzlement, as well as jail terms of up to 20 years for bribery and violating loan regulations.

Death sentences for drug convictions are routine in Vietnam, but much less so for economic crimes. 

The country is notoriously secretive about its executions -- carried out by lethal injection since 2013 instead of firing squad -- but Amnesty International estimates that "scores" are carried out each year.

Alongside Lan, 85 others are facing charges including bribery and abuse of power at the trial in the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City.
Eight are on the run, including two Chinese nationals.

Lan, who is married to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman, is accused of creating nearly 1,300 fake loan applications between 2012 and 2022 to withdraw money from SCB, in which she owned a 90 percent stake.

Police say the victims are all SCB bondholders who cannot withdraw their money and have not received interest or principal payments since Lan's arrest in October 2022.

The value of Lan's alleged asset appropriation, which occurred between 2012 and 2022, was equivalent to around three percent of Vietnam's GDP in 2022.

The case has shocked Vietnam and led hundreds to stage protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City -- a rarity in the one-party communist state.
Lan's arrest and prosecution comes as part of a nationwide crackdown on corruption, which has swept up senior officials and members of the country's business elite in recent years.

In a separate case, Do Anh Dung -- also a successful property tycoon -- went on trial in Hanoi on Tuesday, accused of cheating investors in $355 million bond scam.